The Wright Brothers: A History From Beginning to End (Biographies of Innovators Book 3) by Hourly History

Author:Hourly History [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2017-11-21T06:00:00+00:00

“The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.”

—Thomas Edison

After their 1903 success at Kitty Hawk, Wilbur and Orville chose to devote more time to flying. They could imagine many possible uses for airplanes but knew that they needed more practice as pilots and to continue developing their designs. They relied more and more on their mechanic, Charlie Taylor, to keep the bicycle shop running.

Starting in January 1904, the Wright brothers turned the majority of the attention to the construction of a new plane. They built a different engine, adjusted the wing angle, and tried to make the framework of the aircraft stronger. About eight miles outside of Dayton, they located a 68-acre piece of land called Huffman field, at the time no more than a cow pasture, to use for test flights. The land was near two main roads and a railway line, so there was no chance that their experiments would remain secret. Therefore, Wilbur and Orville went ahead and informed the newspapers of their plans to make their next test of a flying machine on May 23. When the day came, about 12 reporters and around twice as many of the Wrights’ friends arrived to witness the attempt.

But the wind did not co-operate. First, the wind speed was too high. Then, it died down to almost nothing at all. Neither of these conditions was favorable for a flight, so Wilbur and Orville decided to demonstrate maneuvering the aircraft along its track. Things still did not go right, and the engine began to work incorrectly. The reporters were irritated, and the following day, only two or maybe three came back to see another attempt at flight. This time, the airplane made it off the ground. The engine was still not working as it should, though, and the flight was only 60 feet. The newsmen were not particularly impressed, though they did write about the event. From now on, the Wright brothers would work in Huffman field without being bothered by the press.

The first problem the brothers had to deal with was the same one that had plagued their May 23 appearance for the press. They needed a more reliable means of taking off. Due to the unpredictable and often low wind speeds and the unevenness of the terrain, the track was not working very effectively. Wilbur and Orville had to lengthen it to account for the low winds, and they had to frequently move it around to adjust for the direction of the wind. They were reduced to waiting for strong bursts of wind and then hurriedly attempting to take off. This method sometimes worked, but at other times it resulted in accidents. In July, the brothers came up with a new way to get their airplane off the ground. They designed a large derrick that they would use to catapult the aircraft into the air. The device was ready in early September, and the brothers’ ability to launch the plane improved drastically.

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